No problem with the reality aspect at all, we are today much more open to scifish subs. But of course we can find something else to pick on. :)

Besides wanting to know more of how exactly it works ('cause I have a hard time believing in "free energy"), there are two things to address:

First, is there a countermeasure to the process? Any schmuck with even a little gun could take out the largest spaceship - just target some piece(s) that will cause decompression, and they are done for. There have to be shields, or special materials or something, that will hinder this.

Second, it means unlimited power, and that would deeply change the universe. This is a campaign (or story) defining piece, and that should be mentioned.

On the whole, very interesting, and one has to fear if it is not actually plausible. :) Go to Comment

Before anyone starts commenting on the actual 'reality' of this, please just consider this a science fiction submission, loosely based on real concepts, not presented as fact, nor possibility. You know, like the Star Trek original series communicators. Interesting and almost plausible. Go to Comment

An interesting idea, but to keep it from being over-used and abused, I would set a minimum size to a 5D Shunt, something that would allow it to be used in vehicle and ships, but preventing it from being used in hand-held devices and personal firearms. Go to Comment

Maybe this is the campaign defining event, propelling the world into a post scarcity economy, and brining in turmoil beyond measure.

Could be a great plot hook: destroy the prototype and kill the team to stop the change, or protect the team at all cost to usher in a new world order (cue religious fanatic, secret societies, and government organisations.)

I think though, that if you have free energy, the entire gameworld economy will shift drastically. The very concept of warfare is skewed, since building new ships is essentially cost free: Just equip a few robots with 5D shunts, send them off to the asteroid field, and hey, presto, a brand new fleet. Might be an interesting article to write. Go to Comment

Old School Star Trek episode... that was the term I was looking for. Exactly the kind of trouble one might meet while traveling where no man has been before. There is some nastiness, there is the technical special effect factor, but there is also a moral issue at the heart...

Normally, I don't like general plots. This one I do. Two thumbs and a tail up on this one.

Manfred is right, this feels like an Old Star Trek episodes (mixed with things from NGen and Voy). It has all those elements of "human" failings and desperate responses. I like it.

Another plotling thown to this:
An episode or two back, The Ship encounters a refugee ship. It is a generation ship. They are arriving at their destination, but the promised world actually has native inhabitants (100 years in the past to the 1980s tech of the Gen Ship People). The Ship will of course have brokered a planet sharing gig, or fixed the gen ship so it can continue on.

Well if they brokered a deal, they will find that the Gen Ship folks have taken over in a big way. By the time they get back, the natives (who were not wiped out by the Gen Ship people) have been pushed to preserves/ reservations.

If The Ship Moves quickly, they might even be able to save the natives people by bringing them here.

If they fixed the ship, they can lead them here. Here they can live. Of course, the will take advantage of the new planet's unique properties... making it more ship like (more of what they are used to). Add an engine and the hologram becomes a huge travelling ship of immense power. But that is for another episode.... Go to Comment

'course, the gigantic living planet also kinda reminds me of an old Star Trek record (yes, record) I still have, about Enterprise encountering 2 mega-ships in an eternal war with each other, constantly fighting, even though their masters have long since become extinct.